Anniversary card for friends

A friend has an anniversary tomorrow, I couldn't let it pass without making her a card!  Here it is:

I hope they like it!

Supplies used:

Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock
Recollections silver cardstock
Paper Arts die from Paper Wishes
Spellbinders Embossabilities folder
Sheer Creations ribbon
Filigree Fine Art Embossing Powder in silver
7 Gypsies stamp

Thanks for looking!

A few more cards today

All scraplifted from SSS in one way or another lol:

Hmm, I am just realizing that the greeting on this one is a bit crooked.  Dang it!

 I went all the way into town to Michael's just to get the googly eyes to finish this card lol.

As you can see, I did get the Bokeh Builder set from MFT, gotta have dots!  Got the die set that matches the animals, too, and what a difference that made in cutting my mask.

Anyhoo, this has been my Saturday.  What did you do?

kwerner designs and Simon Says Stamp October 2014 kit

Yep, I'm back again, and since I got just my Simon Says Stamp Oct 2014 kit, I am reviewing another Kristina Werner video.

I selected the second card on the video as it seemed it might be simple enough.  Her video didn't show her making the entire card, so I had to kind of wing it a little.

In my Simon package, I had also ordered the 120 lb SSS white cardstock, and since this looked like a single layer card with some alcohol ink coloring, I used that.  It is a great cardstock- it certainly has enough heft to serve as a single layer card base.

The fact that the alcohol inks won't soak through also means that you're pretty limited in your blending.  As a result, my coffee cup shadows leave quite a bit to be desired.

I didn't need a thank you card today, so I used a different sentiment from the set, and I think that turned out great.  Everything else, I tried to copy from Kristina's card.

Here's how it turned out:

That's my card on the bottom and hers on the computer screen on top.

I forgot to round the top corners, and my card is a tent fold where hers is a side fold.

So what do you think?  I think my stamping was spot on, but my coloring fell sadly short.  So I give myself a "Good Try" for this one.


Techniques used:
Stamping with clear stamps
Copic coloring (or Spectrum Noir, in my case)

Lessons learned:
Paper that's great for card making may not be perfect for Copic coloring.  I'll need to either learn better coloring techniques or live with less than perfect coloring lol.

Have a great Saturday!

Just one more for today

OK, so I love Kristina Werner's blog and video tutorials.  I saw this one and just HAD to try it out.  That pig is so darn cute!  I was a little intimidated, though, because of the coloring.  I am a novice colorer.  I have the Spectrum Noir pens, and I love playing with them, but sometimes it's really hard for me to get the results I'd like.  As a result, I kind of shy away from really complicated coloring projects.  I think I'd like to enroll in Online Card Classes' Copic for Cardmakers class, but I'm not sure I'd get as much out of it since I have Spectrum Noir.  On the other hand, if it's about techniques rather than numbering systems, I think maybe I would really learn a lot.  Stay tuned to see if I spring for the class!

Back to the piggy birthday card.  This video seemed so simple, I went right to the Simon Says Stamp store and got the stamp set.  I already had the Fog dye ink in my basket, so I just dropped in some Inkadinkadoo masking paper and the Fiskars compact stamp press.  Why the masking paper and stamp press?  Usually I do okay making a mask with post-it notes, but I thought the masking paper would be key to getting the background done with a maximum chance of success.  Also, I'd been eyeing the stamp press for a while- it seems like a good way to line up your stamp with images already in the scene.

I was right- the Inkadinkadoo masking paper was a tremendous help.  I didn't have to worry about holding it down while I swirled in the Distress Ink background.  Post-it notes wouldn't have done this job very well, but they are okay for masking when you'll just be stamping on top.

Did the stamp press make a big difference?  Well, I probably could have done without it, as clear stamps aren't that difficult to line up BUT I admit I'll be using it a lot in the future as I am kind of a stickler on having things lined up perfectly.  So for only $14, I think it's a good enough deal, especially if you are very picky like I am or if you are new to stamping and would like a tool to help get great results right off the bat.

I didn't get the Bokeh Builder stamp set  because I thought I had lots of small, simple shapes like dots that I could use.  Once I began the card, however, it seemed I had none at all!  How could I have no dots? So that's in my cart for my next order.  I did find a small four leaf clover on another Simon Says Stamp set that I already owned, and I think it did a good job of filling in for the dots.

Here's how my card turned out:

Not too bad, huh?  Again, just shy of Nailed It!  I do wish I'd had some dots to stamp, and when I make this card again, I'll have them.  Otherwise, I am pretty happy with it.  I used Copic Marker paper because that's what I had available, so this will not be a one layer card.  I'll just pop this up on a card base and call it done, though.  

Techniques used:

Distress inking

Masking

Alcohol marker coloring

One layer card

Lessons learned:

You don't have to be a pro at coloring to make a pretty card

Substitutions are okay

You need stamps with basic design elements (like dots)

The right tools make the job easier and more fun.

Happy Sunday, and have a great week!

Are all those instructional videos really instructional?

I've not been posting on my blog for almost  a year now, but I have been perusing other card making blogs, especially those that feature instructional videos.  We don't have a local stamp store (the nearest is three hours away) to go to and learn new techniques, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of Stamping Up! activity in my area, so this seems to be the best way to learn new techniques.

However, I'm a little skeptical because of my  Pinterest fails lol.  Is it just me, or can anyone replicate a craft project that was posted on Pinterest?  I sure can't seem to!  So that makes me wonder- how many of these videos are actually doable by the beginning to average stamper?  Let's find out!

We start today with a kwernerdesign.com video that features a very pretty card that seems simple enough that even I can create a similar card.

Because it's important to have the right tools, I went to Simon Says Stamp to order the stamp set (along with the matching die set because, why not?) and the Fog dye ink.  Everything else I had something similar in my stash.

My result:  Not bad. In fact, I'd say just shy of Nailed It!  I wish I'd had a better quality white cardstock to stamp on- gotta order me some. Plus I had a limited range of colors for the pigment inks, but I don't think the green is a bad substitute for the purple.  My twine is slightly different- it's a paper twine that required a little work before it would be pliable enough to tie around the card.

Techniques used in the video:
"Rock n roll" inking
Over stamping
Heat embossing
Masking

Lessons learned:
Use good quality cardstock for best results on any card.
Sometimes, one stamp set is all it takes!

So, that's it for now.  Let me know what you think if you tried to copy Kristina's card, too!  If there are other videos you'd like me to check out, leave it in the comments and I'll try to do them.

Happy Sunday!