Here is a quick retirement card. This idea could be used for all kinds of things...all you need is a short word that fits the occasion...thanks, congrats, wish, cheers, baby...you could even use someone's name if it isn't too long!! All you have to do is cut the word out twice, once with white or whatever color you are using for your background card and then with a coordinating color or small print, for my card I used a small multicolor stripe pattern. The dies that I used are a set from My Favorite Things. I didn't keep the name of the set so I'm not exactly sure which one it is, but they have lots that would work. Here's my card...
Sequins were perfect to add a little pizzaz! I used some that I got from Stampin Up. It's a great assortment of sequins, hearts and stars in lots of pretty colors! They are on sale right now for 50% off so if you act quick you can get a great deal!! Here's a close -up...
If you make this card, I'd love to see what you came up with so leave a comment and a link for me. Thanks for visiting :)
Janet
I find making masculine cards a challenge. I tend to buy cute or pretty stamps and they don't work on "guy" cards. This week, I needed two thank you cards for men that I don't know very well. I had been thinking about a technique using my Crazy Bird stamps and Pan Pastels and I had one of those "Aha"moments...I realized that the Crazy Bird stamps would be perfect for the thank you cards!! Everyone loves them and they are definitely not feminine!! The technique I wanted to try was to use Versamark Ink and Pan Pastels to add some texture to the birds while coloring them. I got out a bunch of texture stamps...crackle, numbers, swirls, harlequin, chicken wire and a word stamp. First, I stamped the birds with Ranger Archival black ink, then I masked the eyes and beaks and stamped a pattern/texture onto each bird with Versamark Ink. I took my brightest Pan Pastels and colored the birds. When you color over Versamark with Pan Pastels, the stamped areas get much darker so the patterns although subtle, looked great! Here are the two cards that I made.
I didn't want the sentiment too mushy because like I said, they are guys and I don't know them very well so the outside says, "Life is tough..." and on the inside, it says, ...Kindness matters. Thank you". Short and to the point! You can see the crackle texture on the blue bird much better than on the red bird but it is on both of them. Here's a close up of the red bird card. You can see the crackle a little better here...
I wanted to make a little scene for the bird to stand in, so I used the new MFT die-namics called Rolling Hills. I love how you cut the fence and then cut another fence out of green and use the waste for the grass to glue below the fence! It is so cool. I know I'll be using this die a lot!
I used Pan Pastels to color the sky. I used Pthalo Blue Tint and Violet Tint. The leaves are another one of MFT's Die-namics called Wild Greenery. Here are some of the texture stamps I used. I found that I got the best results when using stamps with smaller less dense textures...although I really like how the bird with the numbers came out. Here is a sampling of the texture stamps...
I put Crystal Laquer on the birds eyes to make them shiny. I love how the shiny eyes catch the light...I just love these birds, they make me laugh!
I hope my cards inspire you to get out your stamps and play!
Thanks for stopping by to take a look :)
Janet
I couldn't wait to see what Tim Holtz had in store for us this month! It's only the 2nd of the month and my tag is already finished! Making these tags is really fun! When I saw the one for this month my first thought was, Yikes...there's a lot of stuff on this one! As usual though, once I got started it wasn't bad at all. I didn't have any old timey photos so I found one on Pinterest and printed it out and I didn't have any craft colored burlap so used the white burlap that I had and stained it with with Ranger Old Paper Stain. Here is how my tag came out...
I followed Tim's directions as best I could with what I had. What do you think? I never would have thought this one up myself. It's busy but I really like it! Here's a close up...
I printed the girl's picture onto white card stock and it didn't look right but once I distressed the edges and put some Brushed Corduroy ink on them, it looked much better. The cancellation stamp and signature made it look more authentic, too! Love that :) The expense list was cut from an old receipt page that my friend Wynema gave me. I sure wish I'd collected this kind of ephemera in the past, it is so cool! The Bliss disc came from another friend. I distressed it with some Ranger alcohol ink. The arrow is made from a Stampin' Up punch. I punched it out of black card stock 5 times and silver metallic card stock once and then glued them together.
I wanted the flowers to be small and soft looking so I cut 4 layers of white tissue paper all at once with the MFT small rolled roses die. It was kind of a pain to roll and glue because the layers separated but it was worth the effort. I sponged some color on the edge with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.
I LOVE the buttons on the pin!! Leave it to TH to think of doing that! It's a wonderful embellishment! The zig zag stitching is fun too!
I have another tag to show you because my friend Alita made one and let me take pictures of it! I can't give you all the particulars because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors she was using and exactly what she was doing but it is gorgeous and I'm so happy she let me share it with you! Here's her tag...
And here are a few close ups...
I hope you enjoyed seeing our attempts at this month's tag. If you haven't tried this challenge, you should. I think you would really like it!
Janet
