July 2014 Card Group Projects

This afternoon we had our July card group get together and I designed three cards for the ladies to make.  Nothing TOO taxing, it's too warm for that!

First up is this card with a popped up negative shape layer - one of my fave techniques and inspired by this lovely card made by Julie Davison.  It's great having new colours to play with - I love the new SU! Lost Lagoon colour - and I was very happy to find some pretty paper that goes beautifully with it.    I don't normally gravitate to orange shades but I really like the pop of Calypso Coral here with the Lost Lagoon and black. I glued a black mat layer to the front of a white A6 card base and punched the flower out from the Lost Lagoon panel using the SU! Pansy punch.  I added the strip of patterned paper, used a Basic Black marker to draw lines on both sides of the paper strip and stamped the sentiment.  I glued a square of white CS to the black panel so that would show through the punched shape and I popped up the Lost Lagoon panel.  I stamped a Petite Petals flower in Calypso Coral ink, punched it out with the matching punch and glued that in the centre of the negative flower shape.  I punched a teeny black flower, adhered that to the centre of the coral flower and added a rhinestone.   I completed the card with an accent of three punched banner shapes. 

Next up is a woodgrain and flowerpot card.  I stamped the SU! Hardwood stamp onto Crumb Cake CS using Soft Suede ink, sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink and emphasised the planks by drawing lines with an Early Espresso marker.  I cut away the top portion of the front of a cream A6 card base and glued the wooden plank layer to the bottom of the card front.   I sponged the inside of the card with Bashful Blue ink, die cut two cloud shapes, sponged the edges with Bashful Blue ink and fixed them to the card, popping up the smaller cloud.

I punched a flowerpot from Very Vanilla CS and added Cajun Craze ink with a sponge.  I then used Mossy Meadow ink and a sponge dauber to add that mossy look you see on terracotta pots.  To give the flowerpot a dimensional rounded shape I rolled the pot around a jar, glued the sides of the pot flat to the wood panel but placed a double layer of Dimensionals in the centre of the pot.  I die cut a Pear Pizzazz flower stem and snipped it in half so that I had two shapes to add flowers to.  I punched several Rose Red flowers using the SU! Boho Blossoms punch, used a marker to add Early Espresso dots to the centres, shaped them and added them to the stems.  I stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla CS, cut it out with a circle punch, inked the edge with Soft Suede ink and layered onto a larger Pear Pizzazz circle.  The finishing touch was the addition of the sweet die cut ladybird.  

Card three involves watercolouring which we haven't done at card group for some time.  I have recently been practising watercolouring images with the aim of becoming comfortable and more confident with it.  In the past I've tended to avoid colouring images but I have some lovely outline  stamps and they don't deserve to be neglected - plus I know practise will only help me get better!

I stamped the panel and an extra flower onto watercolour paper in VersaFine Spanish Moss ink and I heat embossed with clear powder.  I used inks and a water brush to colour the images, colouring the background of the panel with Pool Party ink, the leaves with Wild Wasabi ink, the flowers with Island Indigo ink and the centres with Pumpkin Pie ink.  Blimey, more orange - the ladies will think I've gone mad LOL!  I wanted to keep the card front mainly white to allow the coloured images to show up nicely so to add just a touch of subtle interest and to balance the layout I scored some lines.  I glued the panel flat to the card but popped up the extra flower.  I stamped the sentiment, cut it out with a label die and glued it to an Island Indigo flag banner.  I made sure the card still fits inside a C6 envelope even though the banner extends beyond the side of the card!  I finished off with two punched butterflies and a tiny gem.  

Supplies for Best Wishes Card :
Stamps: SU! 'Petite Petals' set, sentiment from Hobby Art
CS: PaperMania white A6 card base, SU! Lost Lagoon, Calypso Coral, Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Spice Market
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Calypso Coral, SU! Basic Black marker
Tools: SU! Pansy, Petite Petals & Banner punches, Woodware flower punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania tiny gem, 3D foam tape, SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for Wonderful Day card:
Stamps: SU! Hardwood, sentiment from Hero Arts
CS: PaperMania cream A6 card base, SU! Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red, Early Espresso & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow & Early Espresso
Tools: Woodware large flowerpot punch, SU! Boho Blossoms punch, Sizzix Bouquet of Flowers Framelits die set, Poppystamps 'Fancy Clouds' dies, Elizabeth Craft Designs 'Ladybugs' dies, circle punches, X Cut corner rounder punch, sponges, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for thinking of you card:
Stamps: Woodware 'All Occasions Bloom' clear set, SU! 'Sweet Essentials' set
CS: PaperMania white A6 card base, SU! Island Indigo, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie & Whisper White
Ink: VersaFine Spanish Moss, SU! Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Island Indigo & Pumpkin Pie
Tools: SU! Simply Scored & stylus, SU! 'Bitty Butterfly' punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, MFT Fishtail Flags Stax Die-Namics die, Spellbinder's Labels Trio die, water brush
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania tiny gem, SU! Dimensionals