Accidental Design

This card was one of those happy accidents that some times occurs during the creative process.  You know the ones, like when you are trying to do something totally opposite of what you end up with, or have no clue about what you want to make in the first place.

I was sitting at my table trying to decide what to make for my VC roomie when I saw a piece of gauze that was left over from one of my daughter's school assignments.  That was an interesting project.  She needed to make bone marrow, moss, and fish oil.  Very fun.  Anyway, back to the card...

So there's this white square of gauze just lying there, as I go to pick it up and toss it in my "spare parts" jar, I see my bottles of Smooch Spritz out of the corner of my eye. Hmmm...wonder what would happen if I sprayed the gauze with some color.  And that was how it all came about. :)  Not so terribly exciting, but fun nonetheless.  I played around with other color combos too so you may see those in future projects.

This one uses Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch mixed with some Baja Breeze ink.  Once it was dry, I cut it to size and then started pulling on the edges to distort the square shape and get some fraying.

For the sentiment, I used the Modern Label punch and the technique I mentioned in this post.  "Hello" is from the set Happy Greetings (retired).  I stamped two of the more ornate flowers from Mixed Bunch in Baja on Whisper White and then used the Blossom punch.  The center of the flower is also from Mixed Bunch stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched with a 7/8" circle punch.  The 3/4" punch will crop it closer to the image, but I liked the look with the added ring of white.  To hold the flower together I used an Antique Brad.  Love those things!!

Since the gauze has layers, I used a liquid adhesive so that it would soak in, grab the fibers and bind it to the paper.  I didn't want it to separate and start pulling away from the cardstock later on.  The Baja mat piece was embossed with the Stripes folder.  All the elements were inked with Baja Breeze and/or Chocolate Chip.

How about you?  Do you like using unusual design elements, or do you stick to the tried and true papers and embellishments?

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Happy Greetings (retired)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze re-inker
Misc.: Blossom, Modern Label, and 7/8" Circle punches, Antique Brads, Metallic Brads, Log Cabin and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Misting Bottle, Gauze, Distresser from the Cutter Kit Tool, Sponges, Scotch Quick Dry Liquid Adhesive

Very Feminie Swap

For this swap we were to make very feminine cards.

I really like the designs in the Patterns Paper Stacks, they cover all styles from elegant to fun.  To dress up the DSP even more, I used one of the flourishes from the Vintage Ornaments stencils (retired) with Pretty in Pink ink.  Several punches were used on this card and I think they added some wonderful frilly detail.

For the flower, punch out 3 flowers with the Blossom punch from the Pretty in Pink DSP.  After lightly misting them with water, crumple them up into loose balls.  Let them set for a few minutes, then carefully unfold them and set aside until they are completely dry.  To speed the process, you could dry them with a heat tool.  Once dry, sponge the edges with Pretty in Pink.  The center of the flower used Raspberry Ripple and the Boho Blossom punch; and Gumball Green and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch, with a pearl.

Stamps: Four Frames, You’re a Gem

Paper: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Pretty In Pink, Raspberry Ripple, DSP Subtles Patterns Paper Stack

Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Ripple

Misc.: Blossom, Decorative Label, Scallop Trim Border, Boho Blossom & Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Vintage Ornaments Décor Stencil (retired), Dauber, Sponges, Dimensionals, Cutter Kit Distress Tool (retired)

Have a great day!

Roomie Kindness

I made this card for my VC* Roomie, Kristi.  A couple of her favorite color combos are Cherry Cobbler/Early Espresso/Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke/River Rock/Very Vanilla.  So I decided to mash them up a bit and came up with this.

I added a touch of Marina Mist to give it a little "pop".  Kindness Matters is such a pretty set; I really need to use it more often.  I used the Vintage Wallpaper folder to emboss the Always Artichoke piece, then distressed the edges and sponged the entire piece.

I had a bottle of Marina Mist shimmer spritz made up so I used a small paint brush and the spritz to paint the butterflies and add just a hint of sparkle.  The ribbon is Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon just flipped over.  I grunged it up a bit with some Early Espresso.  The polka dots didn't really work for this card, but the color and style certainly did. :)

Stamps: Kindness Matters
Paper: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Marina Mist
Misc.: Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (mixed with Marina Mist ink), Distress Tool, Sponges, Paint Brush, Dimensionals

*You can learn more about VC Rocks by visiting our blog.

Make it a great day!