Muse Challenge #90

I stumbled a cross a new challenge blog this week and decided to participate. The blog is called Muse: A Cardmaking Club. I liked the bright colors of the challenge card as well as the design. Here it is:

I immediately thought of a Tim Holtz stencil I've got called Rays. I got out a piece of watercolor paper and taped it down to my craft sheet so it wouldn't move around. I taped the stencil on top (painter's tape works well) and also used some strips of tape to mask off adjacent rays so that the colors would stay where I intended them to go. I did all the yellow first, using Mustard Seed Distress Ink. Then for the red rays I used Barn Red Distress Ink. 

The stencil is a narrow one, and it didn't work to use it to duplicate what you see in the photo above. I ended up cutting the paper in half lengthwise after stenciling it. I paired it with a strip of bright red cardstock and adhered both pieces to a card base. To cover the spot in the middle where the pieces join, I cut a thin strip of black cardstock and glued that down.

I found a small black tag in my stash, and decided to use that with a word from a new die cut set I just bought - it's by Tim Holtz and has lots of Christmasy words. I die cut the word "wishes" four times from bright blue cardstock and glued the layers to each other to make it thicker. I coated the word with my clear Wink of Stella pen and added Glossy Accents on top of that.

Next I got out the Label Love set by Altenew and stamped "Just for You" in Stampin' Up turquoise ink. I stamped the same thing in Versamark on top of that and added  clear embossing powder. After heat setting the powder, I cut out the word strip and mounted in on some foam tape.

To finish it up, I found a red heart-shaped button that I added to the tag along with some blue twine (thanks to Target's Dollar Spot!).

Here's my take on this challenge:

I'm actually glad that I wasn't able to stencil the pattern on both sides of the watercolor panel. I like the way it turned out. I wish you could see the shine and sparkle on "wishes" - it looks great!

Till next time,

Immi

Challenge: M

I enjoy following several blogs to learn from what others are doing. It's a great way to find out about techniques or new products (although that can be dangerous to the pocketbook!).

Simon Says Stamp issues a new challenge every Monday. Today's challenge is to create something inspired by the letter "M". I thought it would be fun to participate, and decided to work with a favorite ink/paper color from my Stampin' Up! days called "More Mustard". I don't know if it's even currently being produced any more, but I still have my ink pad and some of the paper left. It's a great color that plays well with other colors or stands alone, too.

I decided to make a card, using More Mustard card stock as the base. I used a Tim Holtz stencil, aptly named "Honeycomb" with his Distress Ink in Scattered Straw to create an interesting design on the card front. I stamped a sunflower in black Archival ink by Ranger, then used Stampin' Up! reinkers in More Mustard, Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Garden Green, Mellow Moss & Lovely Lilac with a water brush to create a watercolor look. I added some additional depth with colored pencils once that was dry. And, just for fun, I used my Wink of Stella glitter pen on the butterfly and flower center for a little sparkle. The watercolored panel was mounted on some pink card stock and then I added the sentiment from a Tim Holtz stamp set.

This was a fun card to do, and I enjoyed having a starting place with the challenge.

Happy crafting!

Immi