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

Postcard made using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide and Visible Image - Live in the moment stamp set

Happy post came in the form of my Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks after Christmas.  Collection 2 comprising of 12 lush summer colours. This postcard was made for a craft group swap.
 I cut a piece of Hunkydory colour me professional stamping card (300gsm) to 6 x 4. This card is sturdy and has a lovely smooth texture.

Colours used for this project -

abandoned coral

lucky clover

antique linen

These inks have a lovely chalky finish to them and when spritzed with water the colour intensifies.

I swiped the card across the ink and then dried that layer with my heat gun. I repeated this action a few times, making sure that I did not actually merge the two colours on my bending mat and drying each layer so that the colours layered up.  If you want the ink to move more on the card, just spritz a little more, dab off any excess with a paper towel and dry with a heat gun.  I added patches of the antique linen which gave a little creamy colour to areas of the card.

Now it really doesn't look much at this point I admit, but the texture is chalky looking and does not rub off on your hands as you would expect chalk to do.

I also used this fabulous Mandala stencil free from a craft magazine with a set of stamps to achieve the background look I was after.

To get the shimmery background I used versafine clear embossing ink pad over the stencil and then dusted the card with the metallic iridescent mica powder using a soft brush. I really like vintage look this postcard has now taken on.

https://visibleimage.co.uk/

Next, I heat embossed the Visible Image Live in the moment stamp set using versafine clear embossing ink and silver metallic super fine Wow embossing powder onto my postcard.

When the mica powder from the stencil and the silver embossed stamps catch the light, it really transforms what started out as a grungy background.

As this has to go through the post and face the elements of weather via Royal Mail, I have given it a coat of water resistant modge podge.

https://visibleimage.co.uk/

Happy Crafting

A Tag made using Tim Holtz Distress Oxides & Inkylicious - Hope with a Heart Balloon stamp

For this tag I used Tim Holtz distress oxides and the Inkylicious Bankys Hope with a Heart Balloon stamp.

colours used:-

pickled raspberry

twisted citron

peacock feathers

seedless preserves

When these inks are spritzed with a fine mist of water on your blending mat, the colour really intensifies. 

Using the Inkylicious art tags, I swiped the tags individually across the colours, ensuring that I dried each layer of colour with my heat gun before adding more. I went for three different arrays of colour.  These inks have a lovely chalky texture that do not rub off when dry. If you want to add a little extra colour in s specific place you can just re-spritz with water and add the colour where you want it, dabbing off any excess. These colours are a lot bolder. The first two tags I am using for a later project and the third tag is the one I am focussing on today.

https://www.inkylicious.co.uk/

I stamped the Inkylicious Hope with a Balloon stamp with Versafine black soot ink and while the ink was wet I quickly sprinkled clear embossing powder over the top, then heat embossed it. For the balloon, I used a juicy red Dreamees dinky inky and followed the same process. Heat embossing this delightful stamp added a little more texture to the tag.

I decided to add another stamped layer but this time used a range of water based inks onto watercolour card. I used a  blue and red Dreamees dinky inky, Tim Holtz distress ink in evergreen borough and a white pigment inky by Artiste.

To get the distressed circles I used the white ink through a circle stencil and then whilst the ink on the card was wet, I added some clear embossing powder and embossed it. I like the rather distressed look as a result.

I layered up the bookmark with the the background I had made and some pink satin board to finish of the tag. This tag was made for a craft group swap.

www.inkylicious.co.uk/

Happy Crafting