Happy Sunday!

Hello my friends!  Hope you are having a terrific Sunday.  It's always a good day when you can start it out at church praising Jesus for all His goodness and grace.  This morning was a little different though.  The children presented a musical play portraying both Daniel in the lions' den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.  There were some glitches and laughs, but all in all the kids did a great job sharing the stories.  What an interesting way have a church service.  

This afternoon I was in the mood to create with the new Layers of Beauty Bundle and the coordinating Layers of Beauty Decorative Masks.  I tried making something with this yesterday, but it was just a little too bright for my tastes.  So today, I worked on a pastel version of my original card.  Oh, my goodness!!  I just love how it turned out and wanted to share it with you right away.

I started with 1/4 sheet of Basic White cardstock.  The large floral image in the Layers of Beauty stamp set was stamped onto this using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The white layer had just a smidgen of adhesive in two of the corners to hold it in place for the stenciling.  Each of the Masks has a number in the corner to make it easier to color the design in the correct order.  The 1st Mask was held in place with a small piece of Washi Tape on opposite corners.  I used a Blending Brush with Lemon Lolly ink for the first layer on the roses.  The little flowers got a light layer of Fresh Freesia ink.

Lift off the Mask and place the 2nd Mask with another couple tiny pieces of Washi Tape.  This time I switched to Daffodil Delight and added a very light layer.  Another layer of Fresh Freesia went on the little flowers.

Change Masks to #3.  This was another layer of Daffodil Delight ink on the roses.  I made it a little darker for the inner part of the roses.  For the little flowers, I used Daffodil Delight on the flower centers.

Mask #4 was a light layer of Granny Apple Green on all the leaves.

Mask #5 was a darker layer of Granny Apple Green for the shading and detail on the leaves.  Looked good to me so the floral image was die-cut with the coordinating die and set aside until I was ready for it.

Checking the roses against cardstock colors, I chose to use Lemon Lolly for the card base.  I die-cut a 1/4 sheet of Basic White with the 2nd largest Deckled Rectangle die.  I was going to leave the layer plain, but decided a little embossing would add to the design.  Of course, I used the new Eyelet 3D Embossing Folder for this.  (yep, I'm hooked on this!)  There is also a small amount of speckling added using the Granny Apple Green Marker.  Then it was attached centering it on the Lemon Lolly card base using "green glue".

I decided to cut off a section of the rose design to save for the inside of the card.  The larger piece is attached to the card front using Dimensionals.  It is flowing off the white layer to overlap some of the Lemon Lolly base.

The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Hexagon stamp set.  It's stamped on a 3/4" strip of Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  A small piece of Lemon Lolly cardstock was cut to layer this.  They are attached together with adhesive.  Then attached to the card front using two Dimensionals.

The bling added to this card are the Iridescent Foil Gems.  These are so pretty and have just a hint of a purple/berry color in the tinsel inside the gems.  It was like it was made to go together with this card.

Here's the inside of the card.  The Basic White layer measures 5" x 3 3/4" and is attached with adhesive.  The little floral spray that was cut from the original image is added here.  It's attached with adhesive.  I think it's the perfect touch for the inside of this card.  It really could have stayed as part of the front design, but I kinda like it here.

Hope you love this Layers of Beauty Bundle and coordinating Decorative Masks.  Don't be intimidated by them.  They really are easy to use.  My one really big tip is to start adding the color lightly through the masks.  You can always add more if you want a bolder color.  But once that color is on there, you can't take it off.  My first attempt was overly dark for my tastes.  Hopefully, I'm still going to work it onto a card design, and I may find I totally love it.  We'll see.

Just a quick reminder about the free shipping on Tuesday May 21st on any order of $75 or over.  Don't miss out on the savings!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon 

P.S.  I almost forgot to mention cleaning the Masks.  I wiped them down with a damp cloth when I was finished using them.  Easy peasy.  They're now ready to go for the next project.

Diagonal Split Card

Hello my friends on this dreary Sunday afternoon.  It's been so nice lately, well cold but nice anyway.  We've been spending a little time outside looking at all the work that needs to be done in the spring.  I noticed the squirrels have been digging up my iris bulbs, so I don't really know what we have left from all that we planted last year.  I have to say, the squirrels around here are certainly well fed.  They watch for us to put out the seed for the birds and get munching on it before the birds even notice it.  Needless to say, their antics are keeping us entertained.   So, all was that said to let you know I've been slack on getting these posts out lately.  In case you haven't noticed!  😉  Ok, enough with the silliness and on with the card making.  I'm sharing two cards today, because this technique gives you two cards for the time and effort of making only one.  

These two cards are made with the lovely Sale-a-bration freebie - Softly Stippled Designer Series Paper.  I hope you've gotten your hands on this paper because it's gorgeous!  The colors are soft and bright and make up into eye-catching cards.  Let's make these two together.  First I'll share the Wild Wheat card on the right and finish with the Lost Lagoon card on the left.

The card base is Wild Wheat that measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half. Next up are the DSP layers.  I cut two pieces of the stippled blue and green design the same size which is 4" x 5 1/4".  I put them back-to-back for cutting the diagonal piece.  Measure up 2 1/2" from the bottom left.  Cut from that mark to the corner of the bottom right.  Now you have a choice to make - switch the two pieces so you have one floral print and one fairly solid piece in both sizes, or flip the one set over to have the diagonal going in the opposite direction.  I didn't like the combo with the larger solid piece and the floral print smaller piece, so I turned them over and made the other card.

 

The two pieces are attached to the folded card base with "green glue" making sure that the pieces are straight and meet on the cut line.  I thought the design needed more definition to separate the layers, so a 1/4" strip of Pretty Peacock cardstock was attached over the diagonal seam.  This is also put on with "green glue".

The focal point items used for this card were the Perennial Postage stamp set and dies, Stippled Roses stamp and die set, and the Heartfelt Hexagon stamp set for one of the sentiments.

First the postage die was used to cut a Basic White piece.  Then a piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock was cut 2 1/8" x 2 7/8" to closely frame the die-cut.  The sentiment from the Heartfelt Hexagon stamp set was stamped on this with Pretty Peacock ink.  It's positioned a little higher than the middle so there's plenty of room for the rose.

The rose and extra leaves are from the Stippled Roses set.  They're stamped with Pretty Peacock ink onto Basic White cardstock.  I used a Blender Pen to define the rose some in the shadows and to add a bit of Old Olive ink very lightly to the leaves.  I didn't want to lose the Pretty Peacock edges on the leaves.  After stamping they are die-cut with the matching dies in the Bundle.  

The sentiment was attached to the card with Dimensionals.  Then the leaves were attached under the rose with adhesive.  Then the rose was attached to the label with adhesive and a Dimensional was placed under the leaves to hold them up.  The three little sequins are Pretty Peacock color and come from the Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio found in the Annual Catalog.

I made several changes while creating this card.  The card base was changed to Lost Lagoon.  Because I liked the floral print being the larger part of the card front, the diagonal goes in the opposite direction.  The layers were attached the same and the 1/4" strip of Pretty Peacock is the same.

For the focal point, I chose a smaller die from the Perennial Postage die set to fit the sentiment.  The sentiment this time is from the Perennial Postage stamp set.  It's also backed with Pretty Peacock cardstock and stamped to match.

The leaves are cut from both Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock cardstock.  The dies are from the Stippled Rose Die set.  These pieces have so much detail on them that they make quite an interesting accent.  The two larger pieces are attached behind the label, with the bitty piece attached on top.  The label is attached to the card using Dimensionals.  

The pretty faceted gems are one of the Sale-a-bration items also, but it's very easy to miss.  I love this soft Pool Party color as an accent on this design, and the facets give the gems a surprising sparkle.  

Hope you enjoy this way of making your Designer Paper really take center stage as the main attraction.  Sometimes these prints are just too pretty to hide behind a lot of layers and doodads.  At least, that's my humble opinion and I'm sticking to it.  

I had fun making these two cards.  It's not quite how I had planned to make the cards.  The second card really should have had the mostly solid print on the top and only the small triangle for the floral print.  After playing around with the design, I'm so happy I flipped it over and went in this direction.  Give this a try with one of your favorite DSP prints and let me know how it worked out for you.

The month of February is almost half over already.  Where does the time go?  If you've still got plans to get some of those Sale-a-bration items, don't put it off and get disappointed.  

Thanks for stopping in and sharing your time with me.  It's always wonderful to read any comment you might want to leave for me.  I love hearing from you.  Hope your Valentine cards are all made and in the mail.  Hope all my cards arrive in time so you know I'm thinking of you!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon