Capture the Moment - Birthday Card

I have some men's cards to share today, which were made for my brother and brother-in-law. They are virtually the same, apart from the colour ink that I have used. 

It's also the start of our blog challenge at Let's Craft & Create and as we have a no patterned paper theme, I thought that this would be a good project to share. A with all our challenges, they are also ATG.

The camera was stamped twice onto white stamping card, for each card, so that I could decoupage the camera lens. I then added clear embossing powder to the top layer to give the camera lens the illusion of a clear lens.

For my background and topper for each card, I used Peacock feather & Salty Ocean with Antique Linen & Black Soot distress oxides by Tim Holz. I mimicked a random bokeh effect using one of the circle stamps from the Visible Image - Music on Wold Off stamp set in frayed burlap distress oxide.

I mounted the topper on foam pads to add a little dimension and used the splat stamp from the same stamp set around the edges of the card in black soot with some 2nd generation stamping.

I also went for a more faded look with my negative stamp on the background of my topper. I love this stamp by Inkylicious. I bought this film strip years ago and it's been well used and is a great quality grunge effect stamp.

This is about as close as you will get with me making two cards the same, hence why I would not be the right person to make your wedding invitations.......I suppose they would be unique... as they would all be different ...ha ha.

Anyway, I have backed these onto smokey grey card before mounting them on the white card.I thought it needed a softer colour than black.

Great wording for a card, of course by Visible Image, unique stamps and wording.  On a card like this, I add a personal sentiment inside, so I focus on what I want to create rather than worry about putting a birthday sentiment on the front.

Our design team have also been busy this month with projects of their own and there is always lots of fabulous inspiration shared by the crafters on our blog too. If you are interested,  there is a prize for the winning entry, following our theme and a badge for your blog for the top 3 runners up. Just click on the link below which will take you to our blog challenge. 

Happy Crafting

Musical Soul birthday card

My card today is a stamped card that I made for my son's birthday with a musical theme to it as he is a budding musician.

To create the background and the topper for my card I used Tim Holtz distress oxide ink pads in peacock feathers and twisted citron. I love these distress oxides, they are perfect for layering colour without losing tone.

The card I used for this project happened to be Hunkydory ink Me 300 gsm card. It's a beautiful super smooth card which takes the ink really well and I think I am running very low on it.

For the main image I used one of my many favourite stamps by Visible Image - Jazz it up and the reason I chose this one is simple, not only is it a brilliantly textured stamp, but my son also plays the saxophone. I stamped and heat embossed my image with black embossing powder to add to the textured finish on this stamp.

I created a stamped border around my topper and the background that I had made, using the small splatter stamp from the Music on - World off stamp set by Visible Image. I also added glossy accent to the piano notes from the piano/keyboard stamp in the  Jazz It Up stamp set, along with the scales and musical notes from Sheena Douglass's Music & Dance stamp set.

Visible Image has some really thought provoking sentiments to accompany their stamp sets and I love the slightly blurred typewriter style too.

I used black card to frame the topper and my background too before backing it onto my white cardstock. I also chose these colours as my son likes green and I liked the two-tone blend of the colours that I have used.

I didn't feel that it needed to have a birthday sentiment on the front as I added a personal verse for the inside of the card and I made an envelope using some two-tone 12x12 card from my stash that I had bought some time ago from The Works, great shop.

I love to hear my son play the saxophone, he has an ear for music and a  natural ability to play. I can't even read music let alone play an instrument.....unless you count the recorder in junior school ha ha....not a good memory!!

Music is the one thing that can unite souls around the world from every walk of life.

"Music is a world within itself, it is a world that we all understand "- Stevie Wonder

Enjoy your day,

Music lovers birthday card

This months challenge over on Let's Craft and Create blog is   "you're the man"

So with that in mind, my DT card that I am sharing is a music oriented one.

 Sometimes male cards can be challenging to make if you are looking for something a little different, so a music themed card covers male, female and teenagers.

I have used my Visible Image stamps which work perfectly for this style of card onto a Tim Holtz distress oxide background.

For the background, I used Tim Holtz distress oxides in candied apple, salty ocean, peacock feathers, wild honey and twisted citron.

I tend to use two colours at a time on a craft mat, spritz a little water to bring out the chalky colour in the inks and add a few drops of glycerine which helps the inks blend together. Although these inks layer up brilliantly, I would recommend that you dry each layer first before adding more colour, this will lessen the risk of "muddying" the colours.

I tend to do all my backgrounds at the same time and each one is always different. If you work on a larger piece of card, you can cut it down to your desired size catching the colourway you want.

The largest stamp from the Visible Image Ripple Effect background stamp set was heat embossed using cosmic shimmer metallic copper embossing powder on both sides of the card to give the illusion of sound waves. Then I used the Visible Image Music on World off stamp set to form the rest of my card.

I used a combination of stamping and heat embossing with black versafine ink and embossing powder for some more texture and some glossy accent on the music notes.

I do love Visible Image stamps.  They have a very unique style about them and are extremely versatile as well as being strong and very detailed.

Have a look at the inspiration provided by the rest of the design team on Let's Craft and Create Blog this month and the entries for this months challenge.  There is a prize for the winning entry.

Happy Crafting

Teenage Music Birthday Card

Sharing a music birthday card made for my Teenage son made using a mix of Visible Image and Sheena Douglass stamps.

I created the background and topper using Tim Holtz distress oxide inks in candied apple, salty ocean, wild honey and twisted citron.

I used the Visible Image "Music on World off" stamp set, adding glossy accent to the headphones and heat embossing the "parent advisory" stamp.

I mixed this with the free Sheena Douglas "Music & Dance" stamp set from the Creative Stamping magazine (issue 52) from 2018, decoupaging the guitar on the left.

I also used a combination of stamping and heat embossing to create different textures. I love the chalky finish from the distress oxides too.

I matt and layered it onto white card using foam pads and added a personalised verse inside. The finished card measures 7.5 inches square.  These stamps are ideal for teenagers or male cards or just generally music lovers when you are looking for something that little bit different.

Happy Crafting

Birthday Card using Visible Image - Music on World Off Stamp Set

My son needed a last minute birthday card as he had forgotten to get one whilst in town. Well, the snow came and he asked me if I could rustle up something in time for his friends birthday celebrations that evening.

It just so happened I had received my bundle of Visible Image stamps from the black Friday sales and thought they would be perfect for the task in hand.   I decided to use the Visible Image Music on World off stamp set.

Instead of an insert, I used the same headphone image and some word stamps from another stamp set  I had.

On watercolour card, I stamped the main image using black Versafine ink and then very quickly covered it with Stamps Away clear embossing powder before the ink dried. This is a good alternative to using the black embossing powder (as long as you work quickly using this technique). Sometimes when using dark embossing powders you can get stray flecks of powder on the image when heat embossing it and can end up with a speckled image.  Tip the powder off as normal and heat emboss and you will still end up with an embossed image.  Visible Image stamps are deeply etched and pick up so much detail.

Another good tip when inking a background with distress inks/waterbased inks is to use a little glycerine with your ink applicator but do not add it to your ink pad. I kept a misting bottle I had and decanted a little glycerine that I purchased from the chemist into it. You only need a few drops mixed with your ink to help it glide across the paper when creating an inky background.

 I first inked my mat then dabbed by dauber into the glycerine (which you can just see above by dauber on the mat) then gently stroked it across the card starting from the corner working in. It gives you a streak free finish.   As you can see I started with Tim Holtz spiced marmalade, broken china and evergreen bough (mini ink pad) distress ink.

I also used Tim Holtz scattered straw distress ink in the centre of the card. Once the inked card was dry I used various stamps from the Visible Image Music on World Off stamp set and heat embossed them onto the card, with the exception of the keyboard which was from the Visible Image Jazz It Up stamp set. This has been heat embossed onto white card.

I then thought it needed to be grunged up a little, so splattered a little distress ink mixed with water on my craft mat and randomly splattered it onto my card, dabbing it with a piece of kitchen towel to absorb the excess ink.

My son was delighted with the outcome and I was happy with it too.

https://visibleimage.co.uk/

Happy Crafting