Greeting Cards

The See-Through Card that does not "See Through"

I wanted to recreate a card I saw Jennifer McGuire make on her channel. I thought they were beautiful. She took a stamped image die cut and arranged it on a template (a piece of cardstock the size of the final card, (I used Recollections cardstock measuring 5 x 6.5 inches folded final size.) So my template was 5 x 6.5. I had matching dies and cut them out using my Cuttlebug die cutting and embossing tool. I colored them using my alcohol markers.

Where I got into trouble recreating this card was in the adhesive I used. It was sticky and never dried to a non-sticky finish. I was using UHU all purpose glue. Lesson learned, I do not recommend using this glue for this project, because if any seeps out it does not dry to a non-sticky finish.

As I created the front flap, it was sticking to the back panel. Oh boy, what do I do next to not have a total fail here? So I ended up mounting it on a piece of white cardstock. The whole idea of having a card that you could see through was gone! I had all of these white holes in the front of the design. So I got out my Nuvo drops and filled in all of the white spaces with Blue Lagoon Glitter drops. Voila! I was finally liking the shape of this card.

The card was still looking unfinished. So I added a blue border on all sides with the cardstock that I was going to match for the back panel, but I did it in strips on all four sides of the front. Now I did not like the seams showing! So I had some extra die cuts that were used in the design and used those to strategically cover up the seams. Presto! I finally was liking this card. I added some white Enamel Accents by Ranger and like magic, the card was finished. Another option I could have done was to use a rectangular die cut as a window and covered the entire front. Maybe next time.

The point is to have fun and not give up. The possibilities are endless. And if you are having fun, the exploration in the creative world is never-ending. It is the reason I enjoy watching Jennifer McGuire and others because they have spent hours to come up with some of the techniques they share on their channel.

I am posting my process here, to share with you all that you too can salvage your mistakes and make something beautiful. I'm sending this card to a lady who loves my cards and I hope will be delighted to receive this one as well. In my next post, I will share what I did to also deal with the issue of sticky adhesives.

Here are the products I used on this card:

Recollections Card Stock and envelopes Size 5.25 x 7.25 Bulk pack of 50 each
Colorbok Blue Promenade 12 x 12
Nuvo Drops Blue Lagoon Glitter
Ranger White Enamel Accents
Cuttlebug Die Cutting and Embossing Machine
Sheena /Douglass Fanciful Fuchsia Rubber Stamp Set
Camellia Reflections Stamp and Die Cut Set from Scrapbooking Made Simple
Ranger Archival Ink Black
Studio 7 Alcohol Brush Markers
Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Golden Regular Gel Matte Medium
Ranger Mini Sizzors
Cutter Bee Paper trimmer

Self Portrait Caricature - Dyan Reaveley Inspired Doodling in Black and White

Doodling in Black and White

This is another Art Journal layout in my new 8 x 8 spiral bound journal. I wanted to challenge myself to create something in Black and White. Last year I attended a trade show in Las Vegas and there was a caricature artist there who drew my picture. I scanned the image and converted it to a black and white image and used it as my focal point in this layout. This layout was inpsired by another artists on Youtube, and for the life of me, I cannot remember who, but the sentiment is not original, I did copy it, and substituted my own words for the Aspire to be... part. The metal embellishment is from a Tim Holtz collection. It was an evolution of the creative process. At some points along the way, I did not like the composition, and changed my mind a few times....but that is par for the course. After tweaking and retweaking I finally loved what I ended up with...so thank you Dyan Reaveley for your channel that inspired this work.

 

Frankly I don't care what others Say!

I added these characters to my stash a while back and looked forward to the opportunity to use them in my art journal layout.  The size of this Art Journal is 8 x 8".   I made it myself using Create 365 The Happy Planner Paper Punch and Gold Heart Rings. The Punch will create up to 11 holes that allow you to add and remove pages with ease. I love the idea of being able to separate my journal page from the spine and put it back. I can add dimension, embellishments and other techniques freely and it expands the possibilities beyond what a bound journal book permits. Although I still create in my bound journals, this just affords me a new kind of freedom. So I encourage you to check it out. You can create any size page you like.

This layout was inpired by a two page spread by Vicky Papaioannou. Here is a link to the original posting she did of her process on Youtube. I did not have all three of the character stamps, so I just colored one of them in two different colors.

I used Tim Holtz Distressed Oxide Inks by Ranger. There are several layers and I outlined the edges in Black and Vintage Photo.  I printed the sentiments on my Brother label maker and stamped the words "Frankly" and "Say" in Tim Holtz Cling Foam Stamps. This layout was a lot of fun to make. I learned a lot about how the Distressed Oxide Inks layer so beautifully.  The black splashes were done with black Gesso. I colored the characters distressed Oxide Ink and alcohol markers. I glued the characters and cloud comments down with Tombow Multipurpose Glue.

Here are some close ups of the work in progress:

Products I used:

Distressed Oxide Inks

• Vintage Photo
• Fire Brick Red
• Peeled Paint
• Spiced Marmalade

Tim Holtz - Hipster Rubber Stamps
Tim Holtz Framelits - Hipster Dies - Goat
Tim Holtz Framelits - Hipster Dies -Ostrich
Tim Holtz Framelits - Hipster Dies - Cat (not pictured here, but part of the set)
Tim Holtz Framelits - Hipster Dies - Bird (not pictured here, but part of the set)
Tim Holtz Cling Foam Stamps Uppercase
Tim Holtz Cling Foam Stamps Lowercase
Nuvo Drops Clear Glitter
Tombow Multipurpose Glue 
Create 365 The Happy Planner Big Paper Punch for Disc Bound System

Please feel free to use any of the links provided here to purchase your supplies on Amazon. I do receive a small commission which helps to support my Art Journaling work. It does not cost you anything additional to buy through theses links. Thanks.