Brayered Background

I just love my brayer...or brayers, I should say.  With a little know how and some time, you can make some beautiful and fun backgrounds for your cards and scrapbook pages!  This is one of my latest brayered background creations.  I wish you could see the sparkle.  It's covered with shimmer paint mist and this card absolutely pops!

Colors used to create this background were So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Mellow Moss, Almost Artichoke and Basic Gray.  The stamp set used is Upsy Daisy, one of my favorite standbys.

It's pretty incredible to think that this card started out as a white card front.  I had a lot of fun making this design.  So much so that I whipped up 20 of them for some special customers :-) Because of the great response I've gotten from several of the brayered backgrounds I've been working on lately, I'm looking for a date to schedule a brayer class in the very near future.  Be sure to check my Facebook Fan Page or my Meetup for information on the upcoming class date.

It's a beatiful sunrise, Daisy

I've been doing some playing with my new Stampin' Up! sneak preview items. I have to say, I'm totally in love with the new In Colors, especially the Rich Razzelberry and the Mambo Melon. I just can't get enough of them!

I was playing around and ended up with this particular card. It definitely didn't start out looking like this but I'm very happy with the way it ended up. The stamps used on this card came from the Upsy Daisy set.

The background for the card was made by brayering a strip of Summer Sun and a strip of More Mustard onto some Whisper White CS. I filled in some lighter and darker areas by sponging with matching ink. I hid their joining point by sponging on a layer of Rich Razzelberry between the two. I added a very faint layer of Mambo Melon to the top of the "sky" to give a more sunrise vs. sunset look to the background. I stamped the daisy's in Versamark and covered them with Heat and Stick Powder. I just LOVE that stuff! After heating it, I added some Chocolate glitter, assembled the card and tied it off with a piece of Rich Razzelberry ribbon. The sentiment is stamped on the CS using Versamark.

Supplies for this card:

Inks: Classic Inks in Mambo Mellon, Rich Razzelberry, Summer Sun, and More Mustard; Versamark

Card Stock: Rich Razzelberry - 8.5" x 5.5"; Whisper White - 5" x 3.5"

Accessories: Heat and Stick Powder; Chocolate Glitter; Rich Razzelberry 5/8" Polkadot Ribbon; Stamping Sponges; SNAIL adhesive; Heat Gun

Sponging is a wonderful way to get beautiful multicolored backgrounds and create some very unique works of heart. Don't be afraid to pick up a sponge and just start dabbing. You never know what you'll end up creating. I'll share a couple tips with you that I've found helpful when using my sponges. First, don't be afraid to cut apart your Stamping Sponges. I cut mine into quarters. This gives me more surface area to use to ink up my paper. It also gives me a flat edge and a round edge to work with when creating different textures. Second, be sure to pay attention when you go back to grab a sponge. I'm pretty sure my fingers will be stained Rich Razzelberry for a long time to come! At least it's a wonderful color! I will share a sponged vellum overlay tomorrow! Until then, happy stamping!!

Mono Thank You

This thank you note was designed originally with a monochromatic color scheme in mind. The red "thank you" was a late add to incorporate a burst of color. This card is made with Basic Gray cardstock and ink and Winter White cardstock. Thank you has been stamped in Ruby Red.

Upsy Daisy was used to stamp the daisies on the face of the card. To get the background "shaddow", simply move the stamp over and up and stamp again without reinking. The 5/8" Whisper White ribbon is from the new Occasions Mini Catalog.

I'm off to take on another monochromatic personal challenge!!